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In-Ceiling Surrounds

post #1 of 6
8/27/07 at 8:56am
Thread Starter 
I am hoping to gain some feed from those that may have installed in-ceiling speakers for surrounds. My room is 20x22. The primary viewing area is about 20' x 12'w however. I have monitor 7's ver.3 for fronts and a cc-370. I was previously using monitor 3's for surrounds.

I am looking at staying away from mounting bulky speakers from the roof or walls. Depending on quality of in-ceiling vs. price point I may still go with adp-390's for the surrounds but I have been looking for a cleaner, sleeker appearance, hence in ceiling for my surrounds.

My question basically is, do others have experience with a brand they would recommend for pairing with my existing speakers? Paradigm does have in-ceiling and wall mount speakers available but from their website i have no idea on costs or more info without visiting an authorized dealer. I am concerned about in-ceiling though because they are pointing straight (or directionally adjustable slighty) down, as opposed to being above ear level but lower. Im cautious about how it will sound coming basically straight down, maybe it wont even make much difference...Im not sure.

Anyways...has anyone gone this route? Does anyone have anything to share about this taking this approach? I have the ceiling open right now, so now is the time to install ceiling speakers if that is what I am going to do.

I would be interested in Paradigm to match with my existing speakers BUT their website has little information and no pricing on the in-wall or in-ceiling models they offer.
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post #2 of 6
8/27/07 at 9:03am
I can't offer advice about matching the Dimes, but I use in-ceilings for surrounds and bookshelfs as mains and I am very happy with it. Surrounds are just behind and wide of the outer seating positions. My in-ceilings are Speakercraft Aim5 Ones, which are completely aimable. Listening to them firing straight down seemed fine to me, but I did notice an improvement when I aimed them toward listeners' ears.
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post #3 of 6
8/28/07 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
I cant believe nobody else has any comments or suggestions on the topic. Obviously you arent going to get the best sound quality with this approach without paying a premium but still some feedback from others that have taken this approach and either stayed with it or since changed their configuration to stand alone speakers will be really helpful.

Thanks
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post #4 of 6
8/28/07 at 9:30am
I'm in the process of putting in a HT in my basement and had three different companies bid on the job. Two have paradigm speakers spec'd and one went with Speakercraft AIM 5's. I ended up going with the paradigms using ADP 390 side surrounds and the AMS 150 R's as the rear surrounds. MSRP is around 400-450 each I believe for the 150's. A less expensive alternative would be the paradigm CS series which was originally spec'd in the proposal for about 100 less per speaker.

The other paradigm proposal had a 6.1 setup with the sides and rear channel all in ceiling.

It isn't as good as bookshelves, but I think the compromise is fairly minimal. They are only used for ambient sound and surround effects anyways. If you're a surround sound audio listener then bookshelves are probably better.

The MSRP's are a few months old and I don't know if paradigm had any price changes over the summer. Check out the paradigm owner's thread for any other speaker specific info.
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post #5 of 6
8/28/07 at 10:28am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for visiting whacky. The ADP-390's in on my list as a last resort. If I do go with mountable surrounds those will be the ones I go with as I like the performance and they look ok.

The CS series of in-ceiling's were what I was leaning towards but it seems with in-wall or in-ceiling speakers you dont have as much opportunity to audition them as most dealers dont have them setup.

How do you like yours? Do they sound hollow or tinny? Can you distinguish their sound from the adp-390s without them being over shadowed? I would be relying on them solely as my rears since I will be implementing a 5.1 so although I dont want to spend a ton (I am by no means an audiophile) I want to ensure they are going to sound cheap and muddy or tinny / hollow.

Feedback appreciated.
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post #6 of 6
8/28/07 at 2:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by a_user View Post

Thanks for visiting whacky. The ADP-390's in on my list as a last resort. If I do go with mountable surrounds those will be the ones I go with as I like the performance and they look ok.

The CS series of in-ceiling's were what I was leaning towards but it seems with in-wall or in-ceiling speakers you dont have as much opportunity to audition them as most dealers dont have them setup.

How do you like yours? Do they sound hollow or tinny? Can you distinguish their sound from the adp-390s without them being over shadowed? I would be relying on them solely as my rears since I will be implementing a 5.1 so although I dont want to spend a ton (I am by no means an audiophile) I want to ensure they are going to sound cheap and muddy or tinny / hollow.

Feedback appreciated.

I think they will sound just fine. The ADP 390's will give you better dispersion, just based on the fact that they have multiple drivers, but the money needs to be spent on your L/R/C and sub, not the surrounds.

Paradigm puts out a good product so I don't think you will be disappointed.

I actually haven't been able to demo my AMS 150's either for similar reasons. So I am kind of taking a plunge myself. I figure if multiple vendors want to put these in for rear channels it will be just fine.
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